Fishing the Rocks
My companions and I, armed with a quart of live shrimp, made the careful trek down the south jetty early that Monday morning. Non-slip shoes or tennis shoes with plenty of grip are a must for rock hopping. Golf cleats with metal spikes are even better if you can find them. But the Port Aransas south jetty is a relatively easy walk as far as jetties go. There are many stretches of flat, level rock and relatively few tricky boulder hopping areas. Be careful to avoid slick, algae covered areas on the flat stretches if you can. We settled for an inviting looking spot near the end of the jetty and eagerly tossed our lines into the calm waters, some of us freelining, the rest using popping corks. It wasn’t long before my bright yellow cork slipped below the surface and I pulled a
We had walked to the end of those rocks that morning with live shrimp and traded them in for a stringer of fresh fish—a deal I’ll take any day of the week. We celebrated the rest of the day with plenty of beach time, cold beer and pompano fish tacos served with grilled peppers and onions. I was able to clean the catch at the Horace Caldwell pier, which was a short way down the beach from camp. A small fee of two dollars buys you access to the pier and its cleaning table. Tuesday, we had intended to fish the north jetty but a long, hard Monday made for a late start the next morning. For $12, beach-goers and anglers alike can take the Jetty Boat at Fisherman’s Wharf across the channel to remote St. Jo Island where the north jetty begins. Although we weren’t too bummed about the extra sleep. The
THE ESSENTIAL
Trip Gear Sea Angler Inshore Fish Bag Walking a cooler out to the end of a long jetty is not only inconvenient but dangerous, as it obscures your vision and ruins your balance. I use this 36”x20” insulated cooler bag by Sea Angler for any time I’m on the rocks. It’s big enough for most fish and sits well on the shoulder. The bag is not water tight, so use frozen two-liter soda bottles full of water rather than ice to keep your catch cold.
Yo-Zuri 3DS Minnow The best fish of the trip were taken on live bait, but out of all the lures we threw on the rocks and on the beach, this was the only one that got bit. At $10.95 this is no doubt a very expensive lure but you can’t argue with results. A constant retrieve with the rod tip low yielded smacks and skipjack.
Tasty mangrove snapper are everywhere at the Port Aransas jetties. Some are too small to bother with but we were able to bag several in the 13-16 inch range. There is no minimum length or bag limit for these snapper in Texas state waters.
healthy 15 inch mangrove snapper up on the rocks. “This one is going on the stringer!” I exclaimed as I wrestled the hook from the toothy fish’s upper jaw. My comrades soon joined me in the catching as we found ourselves hooking into more snapper, spanish mackerel, redfish, pompano and a myriad of other species found along the rocks. My brother was the clear winner that day. He was able to land a fierce fighting 24 inch smack and a 17 inch pompano. You never know what you’re going to see on the rocks. It was midmorning when a six-foot manta ray absolutely exploded out of the water about 100 yards from where we were standing. We looked around at each other in complete bewilderment, wondering if that really just happened.
south jetty was good to us and we gladly resumed our location from the day before. The water really cleaned up on the channel side and I was able to get in the water to do some spearfishing. The visibility was a murky 8-10 feet but I still managed to shoot some sheepshead and snapper for supper. It sounds exciting but I would recommend locating and taking a freediving course before attempting any kind of breath hold spearfishing. It is a potentially dangerous activity to undertake. It was great to get in the water on Tuesday but the fishing wasn’t nearly as good as the day before, despite excellent conditions. The ocean giveth, the ocean taketh away. We drove off the island later that evening sunburned and sore, but with a cooler of fresh fish and a handful of stories. Another trade I’ll take any day of week.
Trilene 20lb Fluorocarbon This stuff is great for rigging up leaders to freeline or dangle shrimp below popping corks. It’s strong enough to land reds, ties knots well and stands up to the discerning eyes of mangrove snapper and speckled trout. I use #6 or #8 treble hooks for corks and small strong live bait hooks to freeline.
70cm Mako Predator Pro On the second day of our trip the water cleared up on the channel side of the jetty and I was able to do some freediving. Mako makes solid spearfishing products at an affordable price and their customer service is world class. The 60 and 70cm guns work well for low vis jetty jumping.